Hello everyone, and our apologies for not writing for so long.
The reason we haven’t written is that we decided earlier this year that we could not long term continue in Japan for a couple reasons - the largest being work and school
Regarding the school, our 6 year old could only play outside 2-3 days per week and had an hour of homework to do each day. He needs a lot more physical activity than that allows and Emma was at her wit’s end trying to meet his needs and keep up with school. We worked with a school counselor for over a year and exhausted all tried everything we could but ran out of options.
Regarding work, I found the infamous work culture to be unfortunately true. I even worked at a company that was very welcome to foreigners and had relatively great HR policies but even then compared to all places I worked in America the culture makes companies extremely old school and u productive and at worst oppressive to its employees.
Our third year in Japan was our best by far. We had great church friends and community, we felt at home in our city, and knew a lot about how to make life work. However as school intensity increases each year, we foresaw that our time was limited. We have also, more generally, loved living overseas, and feel it is a rewarding adventure for ourselves and our children, thus we have made the decision to move to the Netherlands. Emma and I visited the Netherlands in May, and both felt it had all we wanted. Thus, we moved this past August to The Hague in the Netherlands. It is famous for great schools and life for children, great work culture, as well as the highest English speaking percentage of any non-native English speaking country in Europe which will be a big help to us while learning Dutch still.
While we could have stayed on a bit longer in Japan we felt a transition to another country would be easier while the kids are still young. We love Japan dearly and feel deep heartbreak most days having had to leave it. Especially after investing so much time and energy for years to make it work there and live amongst one of the most unique cultures in the world with almost no knowledge of the Bible.
Similar to Japan, coming to the Netherlands was a big gamble. We had zero contacts or help when we came, but it has been going well in the short 3 months we’ve been here. The school seems great for the kids, and I’ve just received a good job offer this past week
I can’t truly say if we’re “following God’s will” or not; but I can say we’re more grateful for our lives than ever and grateful for the opportunity to take this adventure while our kids are still young and flexible and see more the big and diverse world that God has made.
We thank you for your reading along, prayers, and messages over the years. They were all a big help to us.
Our account with Sunrise will be closed soon so we ask you to cease donations, but we are delighted to receive messages from anyone.
Thanks again,
Pattersons in the World
